The present invention relates to a portable, compact and easily assembled educational kit. More specifically, the present invention is directed towards an educational kit for teaching the assembly, relationship of parts and operation of an internal combustion rotary engine comprising as the essential components thereof an audiovisual instructional means, a simulator board bearing graphic indicia thereon, and a plurality of manipulative pieces bearing graphic indicia thereon, which indicia is relatable to the indicia present on the simulator board such that the student can demonstrate his understanding of the fundamentals of the rotary engine by arranging certain of the manipulative pieces on the board in a logical sequence.
A problem of increasing difficulty in the education field is that of providing a relatively simple means for instructing students, whether in the classical elementary or high school subjects, or in the various occupational technologies. The effectiveness of the traditional method of teaching involving the teacher/textbook/student relationship is measured not so much by the qualitative aspects of the information conveyed, but rather by how much of the information conveyed is absorbed, understood and learned by the particular student. In recent years the trend in education has witnessed the introduction of a number of educational teaching devices generally aimed at the pre-college or pre-high school age group. The most common of these devices are the mechanical or computer devices designed to be used by individual students. The theory behind the increasing use of such devices is that account is made of the individual differences in ability, speed and grasp of subject matter, thereby permitting the student to learn at his own pace and with minimum supervision by the teacher. Some of these devices, such as the video computer type devices, are designed to take over a substantial part of the responsibility for providing and transmitting basic information. Others are designed simply to supplement the teacher's own instructional materials by introducing new dimensions into the learning process whereby, for example, spelling may be associated with pictures of objects, mathematical concepts associated with relative sizes and shapes of objects, or correct responses to questions posed by a computer type device rewarded by permission to proceed.
The advantages of a teaching method using a device geared for the individual whereby both the teacher and the individual may be appraised of the individual's progress are not restricted to the traditional elementary or high school subjects; occupational learning materials that take into account individual differences in ability, speed and grasp of subject matter also have a better chance of being effective. However, at the present time, there are very few educational devices available in the community colleges, the junior colleges, the vocational high schools, the trade schools and other special schools where various types of occupational technologies are sought to be taught on a simplified and individualized basis.
Accordingly, it is an object of this invention to provide programmed educational kits which present information using a multimedia approach.
Another object is to provide an educational kit comprising instructional means and simulator means for teaching the assembly, relationship of parts and operation of an internal combustion rotary engine.
Another object is to provide an educational kit which is simple, relatively inexpensive, rugged, easily assembled, relatively portable and easily understood.
Another object is to provide an educational kit designed for use by individual students comprising audio, visual or audiovisual instructional means, a simulator board bearing graphic indicia, and a plurality of manipulative pieces bearing graphic indicia depicting schematic diagrams of various internal parts of a rotary engine, or word indicia naming various parts or describing engine operation, whereby the student may position the pieces at the appropriate indicia present on the simulator board in response to the instructional means to graphically depict the operation of the engine as well as identify the various parts and describe the various stages of engine operation.